speech-act adverbs in english and polish

14 Pages·2014·0.13 MB·English

Agata ROZUMKO
UniwersytetwBiałymstoku
[email protected]
SPEECH-ACT ADVERBS IN ENGLISH AND POLISH:
A CROSS-LINGUISTIC AND CROSS-CULTURAL
COMPARISON
1. INTRODUCTION
Speech-act adverbs constitute one of the categories of epistemic
expressions. Studies on epistemic modality (as well as its other types) in
English have traditionally concentrated on modal verbs; the few existing
studies of modal adverbs are relatively recent. Most of them put English
adverbs in a contrastive perspective with adverbs used in such langu-
ages as Dutch, German (e.g. Nuyts 2001, Simon-Vandenbergen and Aij-
mer 2007), Swedish and French (Simon-Vandenbergen and Aijmer 2007).
ContrastivestudiesofEnglishand Polishmarkers of modalityhave so far
been rather fragmentary, and have tended to focus on modal auxiliaries
(e.g. Kakietek 1980, Warchał 2010). It seems that the increasing num-
ber of studies contrasting English epistemic adverbs with their foreign
counterparts have already created a methodological framework within
which English-Polish contrastive studies can be placed. Recent publica-
tions on Polish epistemicadverbs (e.g. Tutak 2003, Danielewiczowa2008)
have also identified a number of problem areas which make such a con-
trastive study worthwhile. The present study is an attempt to compare
the inventories and uses of speech-act adverbs in English and Polish.
The findings obtained will be placed in a cross-cultural perspective, tak-
ing as the point of departure Wierzbicka’s (2006) cross-linguistic and
cross-cultural observations on the role of epistemic adverbs in modern
English.
184 AGATAROZUMKO
2. TYPES OF EPISTEMIC ADVERBS – TERMINOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
There is considerable terminological confusion regarding epistemic
adverbs. Neither Anglophone nor Polish linguists have managed to de-
velop a satisfactory classification of these expressions (cf. Danielewi-
czowa (2008) for an outline of classification problems). Moreover, ap-
proaches taken by Anglophone and Polish researchers are often incom-
patible. Epistemic adverbs are difficult to classify even on the level of
one language; therefore, in cross-linguistic studies it is even more dif-
ficult to escape classification problems. However, cross-linguistic studies
are oftenilluminatingwhere difficultiesoccurinmonolingualstudies.As
Simon-Vandenbergen and Aijmer put it: “By looking at correspondences
in other languages one discovers subtle meaning distinctions which may
go unnoticed if one considers monolingual data only” (2007: 7).
Problems emerging from the numerous attempts to define and clas-
sify epistemic adverbs result from the ambiguous status of both terms,
i.e. the term adverb and the term epistemic. Thus, one of the problematic
issuesisthedistinctionbetweenadverbsandmodalparticles,whichsome
linguists choose to disregard (Nuyts 2001), while others see as important
(Wierzbicka 2006). Epistemic adverbs are speaker-oriented, and also ap-
peal to “some expected general consensus” (Wierzbicka 2006: 259). Their
characteristic property is that they are not used in interrogative senten-
ces,unlessforemphasis(e.g.presumably,arguably).Modalparticles,e.g.for
sure, surely, of course are more interactive and addressee-oriented, which
is why they can be used in questions. Wierzbicka (2006: 249) claims that
if epistemic adverbs are separated from modal particles, it becomes clear
that this class of adverbs is more numerous in English than in other
languages.
The problem with the term epistemic is that some authors see it as
a broad category, while others define it rather narrowly. While it is ge-
nerally agreed that epistemicmodalityrefers to “someone’s world know-
ledge, typically that of the speaker” (Narrog 2012: 8), there is no agree-
ment among researchers whether or not epistemic modality should be
separated from evidential modality. Epistemic expressions suggest that
the speaker expresses his/her own conviction while evidentials suggest
that the speaker has some evidence for his/her claim. Palmer (2001: 8)
writes about “evidential modality” and “epistemic modality” as distinct
notions, and considers them to be subcategories of propositional moda-
SPEECH-ACTADVERBSINENGLISHANDPOLISH:ACROSS-LINGUISTIC... 185
lity,i.e.“modalityconcernedwiththespeaker’sattitudetothetruth-value
orfactualstatusoftheproposition”.However,likeotherauthors(e.g.Por-
tner 2009: 170), Palmeragrees that the two categoriesrely on similarcon-
cepts: deduction, reported information,hearsay, direct evidence.The am-
biguity of the two notions is also visible in publications concerning mo-
daladverbs.Tutak(2003)andWierzbicka(2006),forinstance,puttogether
epistemics(e.g.certainly),andevidentials(e.g.clearly)onthegroundsthat
both sets refer to the speakers’knowledge.Simon-Vandenbergenand Aij-
mer (2007: 84), in turn, in their cross-linguistic study of adverbs express-
ing certainty, set the two notions apart, and, additionally,distinguishtwo
other categories: speech-act adverbs and expectation adverbs. Their clas-
sification is summarized below:
1. epistemicadverbs:those whichfocusonthe speaker’sownjudgment
of the reliability of truth: certainly, definitely, undoubtedly, no doubt,
indeed, surely, decidedly, for sure, for certain, assuredly, indubitably,
2. evidential adverbs: those which refer to certainty coming from avail-
able evidence: clearly, evidently, manifestly, obviously, patently, plainly,
3. expectationadverbs: those which relate the speaker’s expectations to
the state of affairs: of course, inevitably, naturally, necessarily,
4. speech act adverbs: those which refer to speech acts which could
potentially be used to support the speaker’s opinion or raise voices
against his/her point of view, e.g. avowedly, admittedly, arguably, in-
contestably, incontrovertibly, indisputably, unarguably,unquestionably, un-
deniably.
Simon-Vandenbergen and Aijmer’s (2007: 84) classification is useful
becauseitdemonstratesthatwithinthewidecategoryofadverbsexpress-
ing the speaker’s knowledge, there are subcategories which have distinct
properties and functions.
3. SPEECH-ACT ADVERBS IN ENGLISH
The present study focuses on the fourth group of adverbs disting-
uishedbySimon-VandenbergenandAijmer(2007),i.e.admittedly,arguably,
avowedly,incontestably,incontrovertibly,indisputably,unarguably,unquestiona-
bly, undeniably, and their Polish equivalents.
Incidentally, the term speech-act adverbs which Simon-Vandenbergen
and Aijmer(2007)use isalso understooddifferentlyby differentscholars.
186 AGATAROZUMKO
Forexample,Mizuno’s(2010)categoryofspeech-actadverbscorresponds
to Ifantidou-Trouki’s (1993) category of illocutionary adverbials, i.e. ad-
verbs which modify an implicit illocutionaryverb, and includes such ad-
verbs as frankly, honestly, confidentially, seriously, and strictly, as in: Frankly,
I’m bored and Mary has, confidentially, failed the exam. In the present study,
however, I will follow Simon-Vandenbergen and Aijmer’s (2007) classifi-
cation.
Of the four categories of adverbs discussed by the two scholars,
speech-act adverbs are the most formal and, consequently, the most cha-
racteristic of written language. Because they refer to speech acts which
may be used to support the speaker’s opinion or raise arguments against
it, they all have corresponding illocutionary verbs: avowedly – avow, argu-
ably – argue, indisputably – dispute, etc., and they seem to be closer to
verbal meanings than other epistemic adverbs. Since they mostly belong
to written language, their frequencies are lower than the frequencies of
adverbs which are more commonly used in speech (e.g. the frequency
of obviously in the British National Corpus – 10658 occurrences – is se-
veral times higher than the frequency of all speech-act adverbs taken
together). Nevertheless,it may be helpful to establishtheir frequencies in
order to examine the dynamics within the group. Table 1 below presents
Simon-Vandenbergen and Aijmer’s (2007) list of speech-act adverbs with
their frequencies in the British National Corpus (100 million words).
Table1. Englishspeech-act adverbsandtheir frequencies
Frequencyper
Adverb
100 millionwords
avowedly 37
admittedly 709
arguably 627
incontestably 4
incontrovertibly 14
indisputably 47
unarguably 14
unquestionably 219
undeniably 157
The group consists of three positive adverbs: admittedly, arguably,
avowedly, and six negative ones: incontestably, incontrovertibly, indisput-
SPEECH-ACTADVERBSINENGLISHANDPOLISH:ACROSS-LINGUISTIC... 187
ably, unarguably, unquestionably, undeniably. While the range of negative
speech-act adverbs is greater than the range of the positive ones, the
positive adverbs, in particular admittedly and arguably, appear to have
a higher frequency. Avowedly seems to be a marginal member of the
group, both because of its low frequency and use. Simon-Vandenbergen
and Aijmer (2007) do not discuss its uses in detail because the word is
not even attested in their corpus. While admittedly and arguably clear-
ly refer to the speaker and his/her knowledge, avowedly tends to mo-
dify the content of the proposition rather than the speaker’s own view
point, e.g.:
(1) Feministcriticism,likeMarxist,isavowedlyevaluative,whichsharply
distinguishes it from the generality of current academic criticism, of
whatever school. (BNC: A1A 421)
(2) The convention was avowedly made on behalf of the Govern-
ment of the Republic of Vietnam and for Admiral d’Argenlieu.
(BNC: FAN 1617)
(3) Ibelieveshehasevenphonedanoldschoolfriendofminewhomshe
avowedly dislikes and asked him for the manuscript of a symphony
we once composed together. (BNC: J17 2930)
Arguably, in turn, clearly refers to a claim made by the speaker. It
“suggests that the speaker wishes to defend a particularviewpoint while
atthesametimerecognizingthepossibilityofdisagreementoralternative
viewpoints” (Simon-Vandenbergen and Aijmer 2007: 192). Its use is thus
illustrative of what Wierzbicka (2006: 259) perceives as the most charac-
teristic function of epistemic adverbs, namely that they “allow speakers
to partly “objectify” their stand, to hint at some valid grounds for it, to
convey an expectation that their stance would be seen by other people as
reasonable”. The following sentences from the British National Corpus
illustrate its characteristic uses quite well:
(4) Arguablymoreimportantinthelongrunwastheillusionofgrandeur
in the monetary field. (BNC: A6G 895)
(5) The tree was arguably out of place in any equation involving human
beings, however disparate, because it lacks their moral personality’.
(BNC: CM8 647)
188 AGATAROZUMKO
The meanings of admittedly differ from that of arguably. It tends to
be used in concessive contexts. The speaker “concedes that something
is true, while at the same time expressing that the proposition is less
important inthe argumentationthan anotherone” (Simon-Vandenbergen
and Aijmer 2007: 193). The concessive character of the contexts in which
it appears, its placement between two arguments, is also signaled by
its frequent co-occurrence with the conjunction but, as in the following
sentences:
(6) Admittedly if the component family abandons its claim to the land
thiswillreverttothecommonalitybutthatdoesnotmeanthatthere
are no such claims in normal circumstances. (BNC: A6S 1058)
(7) Admittedly assessment at earlier ages was not approached as so
all-enveloping a concern as at 16 but warnings about the national
curriculum were serious. (BNC: HPX 826)
Whileeachofthepositiveadverbshasitsdistinctfunctions,thenega-
tive ones do not appear to differ significantly from one another in terms
of their meanings and uses. The only exception here is incontrovertibly,
which has characteristicsof both an adverb of manner (example 8 below)
and a modal adverb (9):
(8) ‘But I am a servant now,’ said McAllister incontrovertibly, ‘not a de-
licate young lady. (BNC: HGE 1723)
(9) The first phenomenon, the hatred, is incontrovertibly evil. (BNC:
B7K 1605)
In (8), it refers to the manner of speaking, while in (9) it expresses
the speaker’s knowledge of the situation described.
The major function of the other negative adverbs seems to be dis-
couraging the addressee from raising any voices against the claim made
by the speaker. They express a higher degree of certainty on the part of
the speaker than the positive ones do. “What they do is to proclaim ‘in
advance’ the impossibility of countering the proposition, i.e. stating that
analternativeviewpointisimpossible”(Simon-VandenbergenandAijmer
2007: 193). Such uses are exemplified in sentences (10)–(14).
(10) By incorporating his favorite argument from the tides – incontestably
a physical argument – he nevertheless transgressed the second of
the two conditions. (BNC: EEM 1364)
SPEECH-ACTADVERBSINENGLISHANDPOLISH:ACROSS-LINGUISTIC... 189
(11) For Somerset House, begun in 1776 and indisputably one of the fi-
nest Classical buildings in Britain, is, it seems, up for grabs. (BNC:
AHG 1170)
(12) Unarguably, the father in the poem is a despot, and the daughter is
humiliated. (BNC: AN4 1349)
(13) The basic attitude of the United States was undeniably one of active
hostility. (BNC: G1R 790)
(14) It was unquestionably the worst Cabinet meeting that took place in
our first period of office. (BNC: ABU 413)
Whiletheusageexemplifiedaboveiscommon,therearealsocontexts
in which the negative adverbs co-occur with the conjunctions but and
though, and, rather clearly, behave much like admittedly:
(15) Stress-reduction exercises (the thousand and one forms of medi-
tation, relaxation, and mental diversion) are indisputably valuable,
though there is probably little to choose between the different me-
thods apart from their cost. (BNC: CBU 2016)
(16) He was indisputably a loyal servant of Edward II, but he was not the
will-less, visionless opportunist which his skilful pragmatism may
suggest. (BNC: F9L 850)
(17) Len was unquestionably one of the best defenders in the 3rd Division
South in the mid-1950s, but in addition he was a talented fellow
who could turn out in a surprising number of positions (he actually
playedinsevendifferentones forus, andthat ina day when‘utility’
players were unusual) and his Palace career spanned ten seasons.
(BNC: B2H 324)
It thus appears that concessive contexts are also possible with ne-
gative speech-act adverbs, though they are certainly less common than
in the case of admittedly. Unquestionably and undeniably appear to be the
most frequent among the negative ones. However, their frequencies are
still considerably lower than the frequencies of the positive ones, which
suggests that arguably and admittedly are the most important members of
the class.
190 AGATAROZUMKO
4. SPEECH-ACT ADVERBS IN POLISH
Polish publications do not seem to distinguish speech-act adverbs as
a distinct class within the category of epistemic adverbs. In the present
study, an attempt will thus be made to delineate this category for Po-
lish on the basis of scattered data. Unlike English, Polish does not seem
to have positive speech-act adverbs. Thus, there are no adverbial equiva-
lents ofadmittedly, arguablyoravowedlyinPolish.The closestequivalentof
avowedlyisprobablyjawnie,butbecauseofitsreferencetovisualevidence
on which a claim is based, it is more appropriate to classify it as an evi-
dential adverb (cf. Rozumko forthcoming). Negative speech-act adverbs
used in Polish include bezsprzecznie, bezapelacyjnie, bezspornie, bezdyskusyj-
nie,niezaprzeczalnie,niepodważalnie,niekwestionowanie.Table2belowshows
their frequencies in the PWN corpus of Polish. Since the size of the cor-
pus is smaller (40 million words) than that of the BNC, the frequencies
have been recalculated for 100 million words, to make the English and
Polish data comparable.
Table2. Speech-act adverbsinPolish
Frequencyper
Adverb
100 millionwords
bezsprzecznie 165
bezapelacyjnie 75
bezspornie 77
bezdyskusyjnie 37
niezaprzeczalnie 47
niepodważalnie 2
niekwestionowanie 0
As demonstrated in the above table, the overall frequency of speech-
act adverbs in Polish is comparable to the frequency of negative speech-
actadverbsinEnglish.Themostfrequentrepresentativeoftheclassisbez-
sprzecznie,followedbybezspornieandbezapelacyjnie.Theotheronesappear
to be less common. The adverb niekwestionowanie is not evidenced in the
PWN corpus. It is attested in the IPI PAN corpus of Polish (250 million
words), but there is only 1 occurrence of the adverb:
SPEECH-ACTADVERBSINENGLISHANDPOLISH:ACROSS-LINGUISTIC... 191
(18) Oknadrewnianewbudownictwiemieszkaniowymsąnajlepsze.(Eng.
‘Timber windows are unquestionablybest for homes’) (IPI PAN cor-
pus)
The uses of the other ones are exemplified in examples (19)–(24) be-
low:
(19) Bezsprzecznie najlepszą walką całych zawodów okazała się ostatnia
walka tego dnia. (Eng. ‘Indisputably the best fight that night was
the last one’) (PWN corpus)
(20) Największą jednak atrakcją wieczoru bezapelacyjnie był Peja. (Eng.
‘The chief attraction of the night was indisputably Peja’) (PWN cor-
pus)
(21) Michał Kalecki (1899–1970) jest dziś bezspornie zaliczany do najwy-
bitniejszych ekonomistów bieżącego stulecia (Eng. ‘Michal Kalecki
(1899–1970) is now unquestionably considered to be one of the best
economists of the century’) (PWN corpus)
(22) “Gazeta Krakowska” – bezdyskusyjnie najodważniejsza i uchodząca
za najlepszą gazetę w Polsce – była w kioskach praktycznie nie do
dostania. (Eng. “Gazeta Krakowska” – unarguably the bravest, and
considered to be the best newspaper in Poland – was almost impos-
sible to buy at news-stands’) (PWN corpus)
(23) To niezaprzeczalnie doskonała przekąska (Eng. ‘It is unquestionably
the perfect snack’) (PWN corpus)
(24) Każdy przekaz uznany za niepodważalnie prawdziwy (Eng. ‘Every
report considered incontestably true’) (PWN corpus)
The adverb bezapelacyjnie often refers to the speaker’s conviction, as
in (17) above, but when it collocates with the verbs wygrać and zwyciężać
(‘win’), it behaves more like an adverb of manner, as in:
(25) Starty w zawodach narciarskich rozpoczęła mając zaledwie 14 lat
i we wszystkich bezapelacyjnie zwyciężała (Eng. ‘She started partici-
patinginskitournamentswhenshewas14andwonunquestionably
all of them.’) (PWN corpus)
Insuchcasesitdescribesthevictoryratherthanthespeaker’sconvic-
tion that the victory took place. It may also refer to the certainty of the
192 AGATAROZUMKO
people who were involved in the event described. The sentence in (23)
illustrates it well:
(26) Kazimierz Kutz wygrał Festiwal bezapelacyjnie. Jury nie miało wąt-
pliwości, kto tu idzie “drogą serca”. (Eng. ‘Kazimierz Kutz won the
Festival unquestionably. The Jury had no doubts as to who ‘follows
his heart’.) (PWN corpus)
Like their English counterparts exemplified in sentences (15)–(17),
Polishnegativespeech-actadverbsare sometimesusedinconcessivecon-
texts:
(27) Giną ludzie i przepada dorobek człowieka. Co jest ważniejsze? Bez-
sprzecznie – życie ludzkie, ale żal i owych materialnych śladów czło-
wieka,od którychzależyjego duchowybyt lubniebyt.(Eng. ‘People
die and their possessionsgo away with them. Which is more impor-
tant?Indisputably–humanlife,butthelossofthematerialevidence
of human existence, which is connected with the spiritual life of an
individual, is also sad’) (PWN corpus)
(28) Tak, niezaprzeczalnie, to była grafomania. Ale dobrze zakamuflo-
wana. (Eng. ‘Yes, undeniably it was graphomania. But it was well
camouflaged’) (PWN corpus)
(29) Trudno cokolwiek mówić o stylistyce, gdyż dla wielu kierowców
auto jest po prostu bezdyskusyjnie piękne, ale to oczywiście kwestia
gustu. (Eng. ‘It is difficult to say anything about its style because
for many drivers the car is indisputably beautiful, though this, of
course, is a matter of personal taste.’) (PWN corpus)
(30) Był on bezspornie wielkim człowiekiem, jednakże tworząc Gwardię
Szwajcarskąniekierowałsięwzniosłymipobudkami.(Eng. ‘He was,
indisputably,a great man, but, when he decidedto create The Swiss
Guard, his motives were not noble’) (PWN corpus)
Clauses beginning with the conjunctions ale (‘but’), jednakże (‘how-
ever’) introduce alternative or complementary ideas, thus making the
adverbs less strong in meaning. More research is needed to establish
how common such usage is in the two languages. It seems plausible that
having no equivalent of admittedly, Polish makes up for it by broadening
the scope of use of the negative adverbs. Such an explanation, however,
does not work for English, where concessive usage is attested with both